Spirits predict the future

In ancient Britain, Halloween marked the end of the year when crops were no longer harvested and winter’s first cold breath arrived to chill the blood.

On that night, between the old and the new, it was believed that the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead became transparent and malleable.

Spirits of the dead were able to walk amongst the living, whispering secrets of the future yet to unfold.

My Celtic ancestors encouraged this spiritual interaction by building sacred bonfires and wearing costumes of animal heads and skins, while attempting to tell each other’s fortunes. Trick or treat depended on whether the fortune was good news or not.

In those dark days, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

If that same veil was lifted today, what wisdom would the dead have to tell us about the future? Let’s see.

– Two years after the public referendum, the City of Victoria will finally accept a bid to rebuild the Johnson Street Bridge. Nobody will be happy with the decision, cost or design, but we’ll celebrate its official opening anyway.

– The Liberal government will face its worst defeat in history during the spring election. Liberal faithful will try to point blame at Premier Christy Clark, while knowing full well that she inherited a sackful of manure and simply couldn’t make it smell like popcorn. The NDP will crow about how everything will be different now that they are in charge. We’ll switch back to the antiquated GST + PST tax system (a decision made emotionally rather than wisely), and then, suddenly, Enbridge will be given approval to build its pipeline through B.C. We’ll be told it’s for our own good in order to balance the budget and clear out some of that massive Liberal debt. Minimum wage will not be raised and shocked voters will realize for the umpteenth time that what parties say to get elected is entirely different from what they do once in office.

– NDP nominee Murray Rankin will win the Nov. 26 byelection to replace outgoing Victoria MP Denise Savoie. His victory music will be “Your Boat’s Lost At Sea” by The Rankin Family as a message aimed directly at the ruling Tories.

– Marijuana will remain illegal despite evermore higher-profile citizens, intellectuals and government leaders joining the call for deregulation and taxation. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, will keep the issue in his back pocket in case he needs to make it an election promise in 2015 to keep control of the majority.

– The writer of this column will win millions on the lottery in November and won’t be able to stop smiling. Hmm, maybe my crystal ball is a little foggy. M